Image courtesy of: The Express Tribune

Afridi claims to have initially been offered USD 150,000

Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has rejected to sign a contract with the St Lucia Zouks, which would have seen him play in the inaugural edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

Just days after being offered the contract, on the recommendation of West Indies Test captain Darren Sammy, Afridi turned down the offer as he was being paid USD 50,000 instead of the USD 150,000 he claims to have been offered initially.

“Afrdi was offered 50,000 dollars for the contract but he rejected it pointing out that initially the same franchise had offered him USD 150,000 and he would not accept less now,” a source close to Afridi said.

The Zouks had approached Afridi after losing one of their international signings to an injury.

“Afridi’s contention was that when the initial offer was made to him he turned it down because he had a three year contract with the Sri Lankan Premier league which is not being held this year,” the source said. “But his stance is that if the St Lucia team wanted to sign him now they should have paid him the original offer made to him.”

With Afridi refusing to sign the contract, the Zouks approached Pakistan ODI and Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq instead, who agreed to represent them in the CPL.

“Misbah was an obvious second choice because of his recent form although ironically the Pakistani selectors don’t consider him for T20 cricket now,” the source said.